This Week's Story: The Kunz Family

This week's story is about a family of four brothers - three of whom fought in the Great War and one in the Second World War - and of their brave, hard-working mother, a farming family who lived in the village of Schöllbronn in the hills above Ettlingen.

Julius Johann Kunz, born on August 9, 1899 in Schöllbronn was only 18 when he lost his arm fighting at Verdun. Julius' daughter has contributed this story and the accompanying pictures. She was thus able to tell us that Julius was brought to the lazaret in Ettlingen, where he was treated and made his recovery.

However, food and vitamins were not in abundance in the lazaret, and Julius' mother made the journey from Schöllbronn down the hills to the lazaret in Ettlingen and back every single day, bringing Julius fruit, vegetables, milk, butter and cheese, in a basket on her head. She made the journey by foot - a round trip of 13 or 14 kilometers, after working in the fields all day.

Julius' daughter tells us that if his mother had not cared for him in this manner, he would not have made it through. We are very lucky to have the following photo of soldiers inside the lazaret from the Kunz family - our first photo of the lazaret.

Julius is fourth from the left in this photo, with the word "Papa" above his head.
Julius had problems with the amputation of his arm all his life, often suffering from phantom pains.
He died in 1956, at the age of 56.









Leopold was the oldest brother of the family, and was a prisoner-of-war in England. He returned home in 1920. Although he had survived the Great War, he was carrying hepatitis and spent the next five years in bed. His mother also cared for him through these years, of course, while at the same time bringing up her youngest son, Oskar, and working in the fields. Sadly, and despite the care of his family, Leopold died in 1925 of hepatitis.

Valentin was the third son, and he too survived the Great War. Valentin also spent time as a prisoner-of-war in England. The photo below shows Julius and Valentin together.

Valentin is in the center of this photo and Julius on the right. Valentin has his arm around Julius' shoulder.
Oskar was the last son, and he was too young to join up during the Great War. He fought and fell during the Second World War.

Julius Johann Kunz, born August 9, 1899. Lost his arm at Verdun at the age of 18. Died in 1956, aged 56.

Julius Johann Kunz is seated in the center of this photo.












We have been lucky enough to find a photo of the mother of Julius, Valentin, Leopold and Oskar at the house where she lived in Schöllbronn. She is the first person on the left in the photo below. Julius' daughter, who contributed this story, is the little girl in the center of the group in this photo. Oskar is at the right, and Julius' wife, who died, together with their second child in childbirth, is standing next to him.

Story Of The Week: The Hauser Brothers

This week's story comes to us from Ella Lehmann, 92, of Ettlingen Town Center. Ella's grandparents lived in the Untere Zwingergasse in Ettlingen and had four sons, three of whom were old enough to join the ranks. Ella's father Anton Hauser fought as a Private in the Great War. Born on August 16, 1894, Anton joined up when he was just 20 and fought on the Western Front in France.

Private Anton Hauser is on the right in this photo.
Anton survived the Great War
















Anton's two brothers, Ella's uncles Josef and Hans Hauser, also served in the Great War and all three survived.

Ella's uncle Private Hans Hauser, who also survived the
Great War

Ella's uncle Private Josef Hauser, second from right in the middle row. Josef also survived

Story Of The Week: Private Leopold Kappenberger

Our story of the week comes from Rudi Bannwarth of Ettlingenweier, one of the districts of Ettlingen. Rudi's great-grandfather Leopold Kappenberger fought as a Private in the Great War.

Leopold was born on December 8, 1886. He worked as a technical former in a factory in the metal industry and was one of the first men from the village to earn his wages outside of the agricultural sector. In 1914, he was called up to fight in the Badische Leib-Grenadier Regiment 109. This regiment belonged to the XIVth Infantry Corps and was the local regiment of Karlsruhe.

Leopold was married to Regine (born Weber) and they had three children. Two of the children only lived for a few months and their middle child, Rudi's grandmother Helene, was the only one who survived.

Leopold died on October 1, 1914 on the Western Front in France. He was the first man from the village to die in the Great War.

Private Leopold Kappenberger, Dec. 8, 1886 - Oct. 1, 1914
Badische Leib-Grenadier Regiment 109/XIVth Battalion
Died on the Western Front in France

















Leopold's wife Regine married a second time in 1920, this time to Leopold Lumpp, who had probably held the rank of Rifleman during the Great War. Leopold Lumpp was born in 1876 and had been 48 at the outbreak of war, so he had not fought. Instead, he had worked as a security guard for prisoners of war. The couple had a further six children together, four of whom survived.

Rifleman Leopold Lumpp
Survived the Great War

The Catastrophic Outbreak of the Great War, 1914-1918

The First World War, known at the time as the Great War, broke out on July 28, 1914, when Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia in retaliation for the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, by Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian national. Following Russia's mobilization, Germany, which was aligned with Austria-Hungary, declared war on Russia on August 1, 1914 and on France on August 3, 1914. As a result of Germany's violation of neutral Belgium to outflank France, Britain declared war on Germany on August 4, 1914.

The Great War continued until November 11, 1918. The total number of military and civilian casualties was over 37 million. There were over 16 million deaths and over 20 million wounded.

Around 380 soldiers from our small town of Ettlingen, plus many more from Ettlingen's six surrounding villages, died in the Great War. Around 80 soldiers returned from prisoner-of-war camps in 1919 and 1920. This site is dedicated to all those in Ettlingen who fought, died, and lost their loved ones in this most tragic of conflicts.

Click on the links below to call up the other pages on this site:

List Of Fallen - a list of the soldiers who died on the battlefields, together with their date and place of death
Local Newspapers 1914 - photos of newspaper articles, together with translations into English, of Ettlingen's newspapers at this time. This section also contains some documents from soldiers returning to Ettlingen, usually after time in POW camps
Diaries - excerpts from the diaries of local people, including Dr. Barth, editor of the local newspaper the "Mittelbadischer Courier" and Oskar Kiefer, Ettlingen's sculptor, during the Great War
Letters From The Battlefields - transcriptions and translations of soldiers' letters from the front
Memorabilia- other interesting memorabilia from the time
Photos - photographic material, mostly taken by soldiers from Ettlingen